From Fortune:

The Gates Foundation urges billionaires to donate to high-impact causes that can save lives, rather than elite universities. The foundation has committed to giving away $8.6 billion and called wealthy individuals to be more generous, drawing from the example of philanthropist Chuck Feeney.

The Gates Foundation was founded in 2000, mainly funding grants to small organizations fighting poverty and disease. Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates have been the largest donors, contributing $59.1 billion as of 2022. Warren Buffett has also donated $35.7 billion to the foundation.

The Gates Foundation believes in spending its money on grants to fight poverty and disease around the world. One of its well-known campaigns has been funding malaria prevention research, for which the foundation has spent over $1 billion over the past two decades.

The world of philanthropy favors education, with over $70 billion donated to colleges and universities in 2022, more than health, social benefit organizations, or international affairs. The Gates Foundation believes in funding high-impact causes that can save lives and has committed to donating $8.6 billion this year.

The Gates Foundation states that the global combined net worth of all billionaires is at least $12.2 trillion, and if each billionaire donated just 0.5% of their wealth, the resulting $61 billion would be enough to save the lives of 2 million mothers and babies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and prevent 7 million deaths through vaccination.

The Gates Foundation stresses the importance of small individual donors in advancing charitable causes, noting that today, nearly half the world’s countries participate in GivingTuesday, a movement that has facilitated more than $13 billion in donations since its creation in 2012.



Read more: Bill Gates foundation chief takes a shot at donors who give only to elite universities, urging them to follow Chuck Feeney’s example